Stock Market Blog -Dec 29th

The market powered up once more, though on light 'holiday' volume. The indices will close out the year with hefty gains, with the Nasdaq leading the way, followed by the Small-cap Russell 2000. Here's a composite look at the DOW stocks, IBM being the main loser for the year.

The US Dollar gained significantly against the Yen, as well as other currencies (GPB, AUD, CAD, etc.)
China and India were down slightly for the year, while Brazil was down a lot.
The Nikkei (Japan) closed at its highest level in over a decade.

Commodities/Futures:
Gold turned in a poor performance this year, after a decade of solid gains.
Crude Oil was up and down, and ended mostly unchanged for the year, around $100.
The 30 year Bond sold off all year, and lost ground for the first time in a long time.
Coffee, like Gold, saw relentless selling all year -time to buy!
Corn, Wheat, and Sugar also sold off all year. And Soybeans.


New all time highs:    AMZN, AXP, CMCSA, CVD, DIS, DDD, FDX, GOOG, MMM, STX, XOM, UPS, UTX, V, and more...  TWTR saw some big gains last week.
All time lows:   

Pops:  , Drops:   
Next week:  Economic reports ,
Earnings

Some of the tech performers in 2013


Market Commentary

The rally continues, probably through the end of the year, and then some.  Because it is so overbought, we will probably see a correction soon. Another holiday week of light trading ahead, with maybe a pickup in volume after the holiday. Take a break!

This week's charts:
S&P 500 -new all time high again!
10yr Interest Rates
Labor Force Participation Rate (10yr chart)

Commodities/Futures (charts):
Crude Oil rallied, closing over $100!
Natural Gas was mostly unchanged
Gold was up a bit
The 30 year Bond was down
The US Dollar was down a bit

NEWS:
Stocks: Break out the champagne!
Unemployment benefits for 1.3 million expire
China debt grows to $4.6 trillion
China hands 'death sentence' to 75% of solar cell makers